Fallen heroes in global capitalism Workers and the Restructuring of the Polish Steel Industry

by Trappmann, Vera

• ISBN13: 9781137303646
• ISBN10: 1137303646
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2013-05-07
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

This book challenges the one-sided account of Poland as a successful transition case, by exploring the huge social costs for workers in terms of impoverishment and employment precarity. The ambivalent role of the European Union in the economic restructuring of Poland emerges through comparisons to earlier rounds of restructuring of steel in Western Europe, Eastern Europe and other parts of the world.

By offering an exemplary case of multi-level analysis, an in-depth case study and biographical research, Fallen Heroes in Global Capitalism provides a compelling read on postsocialism and the restructuring of the Polish steel industry.

Author Biography

Vera Trappmann is Junior Professor of Sociology/European Societies at the Otto-von-Guericke University in Madgeburg, Germany. Her recent books include Business leaders and New varieties of Capitalism in Post-Communist Europe (Routledge, 2013) and Das Erbe des Beitritts. Europäisierung in Mittel- und Osteuropa (Nomos, 2006).

Table of Contents

Introduction
PART I
1. The Steel Sector in the Global Economy
2. The Context of Restructuring in Poland
3. Capitalism Unleashed? The EU as a Promoter of Economic Change in the Region
PART II
4. The Polish Steel Industry before and during Accession 1990-2006
5. The Embeddedness of Steel Restructuring in Social Dialogue
6. Labour-market and Regional Policy
PART III
7. From Socialist Landmark to Subsidiary: the Case of Huta Lenina
8. Limitations of State Support for Sustaining Steel
PART IV
9. Fallen Heroes: Steelworkers in the New Capitalist System
10. Perspectives for the Community: Revitalising a Region from the Bottom Up
Conclusion